by Kat T. Masen
I stand there, silently faced with an ultimatum.
Despite my strength and willingness to hold myself together, the walls crumble, and the tears carelessly fall down my cheeks.
His expression immediately softens, and his arms wrap around me so tight that I can’t let him walk away because if he does, I’ll blame myself for the rest of my life.
“Lex, I’m so scared of losing you again.”
“Charlotte, look at me… please.”
He cups my chin, lifting my head, so our eyes meet. They shine so brightly, capturing me, taking me to a special place only he can ever do. “You won’t. I won’t let that happen to us.”
Tilting his head, he kisses the tears away from my cheek, making them disappear.
We stand here, for how long, I don’t know. Tired, he pulls me along as we sit on the sand, his arms wrapping around me to protect me from the ocean breeze.
“Lex, did you ever think about leaving her for me?”
“All the damn time. I’d replay the conversation in my head, have it all planned out. I was reaching my breaking point. I knew how many lives it would affect but I didn’t care. The day I had planned to tell her, she dropped the bombshell.” His voice croaks, the memory painful. “I hated her so much at that point. My parents and Adriana were so happy. When she went to the hospital because she was in pain, and after the stories my mother told me about losing a baby, I knew that if anything were to happen it would be all my fault.”
I froze, unable to comprehend what he said. With every fiber in my being, I attempt to change the subject. I’m weak, I know that. Life is cruel. I learned that the hard way, but opening up that dark, cruel world is no way to start anew.
“I felt so pressured, Charlotte. No control over my life whatsoever.” He held me tighter, brushing his lips against my hair. “I might be controlling now, but the decisions I make are all mine. I have no one to answer to but myself. I thought that was how I wanted to live, but without you, there is no life. You need to know that all I want is you.”
Tilting my head to the side, I kiss his beautiful lips. Can I have him forever? Could this finally be it for us? The happily ever after we both are so desperate for?
I know I hold all the cards and this is ultimately my decision.
I need to place all my trust in him, once and for all.
“Marry me, Charlotte.”
Stunned, I move my body to face him. His face is deadly serious, and maybe my clouded head is imagining things. He can’t have just asked me to marry him. Did he?
“Lex, um… what did you just say?”
“I said… marry me, Charlotte. Tonight, here, now.”
“But… we can’t just get married. Are you crazy?”
“I’ve never been this sane in my life,” he answers calmly.
“It’s not even possible. I mean, even if we wanted to.”
“Nothing is impossible.”
He throws me the helmet, motioning for me to put it on. Jumping on the bike, he starts the engine. Taking out his phone, he types something really fast. I have no idea what he’s doing. It isn’t like we are in Vegas.
We drive to the next town over as I clutch onto him in a slight panic. Suddenly, he stops in front of a building, jumps off and tells me to wait by the bike. As I wait, I can feel the panic rising and the uncertainty of the situation which is making me start to sweat. A lot.
Trust him, Charlie. Go ahead and trust him, the voices in my head sing.
Lex walks down the path and knocks on the door of the fancy house. A man answers in his robe, taken aback by Lex standing on his porch. He talks, and I can’t make out a single word. The man holds his hand up almost like he’s refusing to hear something until they both stop, and the man closes the door. Lex continues to wait on the porch, turning around to smile back at me, almost like the smile is saying a thousand words I need to hear right now to ease the trepidation. The door opens again, and the man points to something out back. He closes the door again, and Lex comes running to where I stand.
“Now… will you tell me what’s going on?” I ask, panicked.
He grabs my hand and pulls me back toward the house, except we turn the corner, following the rose bushes until we find ourselves standing in the backyard, a few feet away from a gazebo where the man stands, and an older lady beside him.
“Charlotte, marry me. Here. Now.”
“Lex, come on… you’re joking, right?”
“Marry me, Charlotte,” he repeats the words.
I look at the man and woman waiting. Without thinking, I pull Lex toward them until we’re standing under the gazebo. I turn to look at the man, Lex giving him a nod before he begins to speak.
“We’re gathered here today…” he continues speaking as I stand there dumbfounded, unable to comprehend this moment.
What the hell is happening?
Is this for real?
“Alexander Matthew Edwards, do you take Charlotte Olivia Mason to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold till death do you part?”
“I do.”
The lady hands him a gold band, and slowly, he slides it on my finger. It’s slightly tight, but he still manages to get it on. How on earth did he get rings in five minutes?
“Charlotte Olivia Mason, do you take Alexander Matthew Edwards to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold till death do you part?”
Holy shit! Someone pinch me now.
“I do,” I blurt out. “I really do.”
I let out a sigh, and at that moment, peace has finally found me.
The lady hands me another gold band, my fingers trembling as I slide the ring onto Lex’s finger.
“By the authority vested in me by the State of New York, I now declare you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
Lex inches closer, his nose grazing mine gently before he parts his lips and tenderly kisses mine, soft yet urgent, desperate yet at ease, under the gazebo as I barely manage to contain myself. I’m waiting for him to wake me up and tell me this is all a dream. The most beautiful dream where I just took the biggest leap of faith known to mankind.
“Are we m… married?” My voice is quivering.
“You better believe it, Mrs. Edwards.”
***
I climbed into his bed that night, and for the first time, he holds onto me not letting me go. We have never officially slept together, and this is to new beginnings. A new life for us, and we’re married. The adrenalin refusing to wear off.
Lex Edwards is my husband.
I am married.
As the sun rises in the morning, I wake up with Lex wrapped around my body. It’s the most wonderful sleep I have ever had, and I know for now the demons have been set free. We’re far from perfect, and there’s still so much to overcome, but it’s about taking baby steps. Right? Because getting married on a whim is taking baby steps.
I lay there for a while, smiling at how happy he has made me. Every part of me knows there’s no one else who can make me feel so secure, so content, and so whole. I snuggle into him, not wanting to let go of this perfect man who’s now mine. My husband.
Watching him sleep so peacefully, his eyelids flutter every so often. His perfect jaw, his perfect lips, his uncontrollable hair—everything about him makes me smile. So much that my cheeks start to actually hurt.
Reaching over to the nightstand, I grab my phone to see what time it is—seven in the morning—but the text sitting on the main screen catches my attention. It’s a link, sent directly to me. I don’t recognize the number, and it looks like a spam link, but it’s the title that piques my interest.
Billionaire Playboy finally settling down with Heiress to Preston Enterprises
I normally ignore any tabloid trash sent to me, but I click on the link, taken directly to the article on page six of the New York Times.
In a move that shocks the business world, entrepreneur and billionaire playboy, Lex Edwards, was seen last week leaving a hotel room while being
intimate with heiress to the Preston Enterprises group, Victoria Preston. A source close to the couple says they have been close for a while, but due to business conflicts, the relationship was not made public. Ms. Preston’s publicist declines any comments, however, founder of Preston Enterprises, Clive Preston, says that Lex is like a son to him, and any news of a union between the two is great for him as well as the two companies. Photographs have been snapped of them at intimate dinners in New York and London. Ms. Preston has also been caught leaving his apartment dressed casually in the early hours of the morning. The photograph caught of them being intimate at a business function last Saturday is enough to confirm the couple is definitely on.
I click on the pictures and zoom in. It’s him. My heart stops. Clutching my chest, I’m unable to breathe. I shake my head relentlessly, the shock consuming me.
Barely able to move, my brain is trying to compute what I’ve read. The pictures don’t lie, they are definitely being intimate, his hand is stroking her cheek. You don’t do that with business associates. Every image in that article is, in fact, of them being intimate all over the fucking country.
I untangle myself from him, quietly tiptoeing across the room. As I’m about to exit, I catch his phone by the nightstand. I try to ignore it, but I need fucking answers.
I’m so fucking angry at myself for trusting him again.
Quickly grabbing it, I read the message on the screen.
Victoria: Looks like we made page six, baby. Might as well come out now.
With shaking hands, I place the phone back and bolt out of the room. I’m ready to break down, to scream my lungs out, to punch something, do anything to let out the pain. The nausea washes over me. Covering my mouth, I run to the bathroom, barely making it to the bowl. My body is shaking, that familiar feeling is tearing me up inside.
I need to get out of here and fast.
Panicking as I don’t want to face him. Scared he’ll try to convince me it’s all a lie, when, in fact, the damage is done.
He’s broken me once again.
Rocky is the only one sitting at the dining table. He has the paper wide open but shuts it closed when he sees me.
“Charlie, do you wanna… look, I saw…”
“Rocky, I need you to do me a favor. I’m packing my bags right now and taking the bike. I don’t care how just make sure someone drives my car back. Park it in your garage. I need to get out of here right now. Please, just do this for me?”
He nods as I quickly bolt back to my room shoving everything in my bag. I dump it in the back of the car and run over to my bike. Quickly putting my helmet on, I drive off faster than I ever have before, the noise of the engine echoing through the quiet streets.
I hate myself so much right now.
Why the hell did I ever trust him?
He can’t just be with me.
He always has to have his way.
Someone else on the side, and I’m so sick of being that other woman. He’s nothing but a fucking liar, a player, and I’m so stupid for believing his lies, again, for believing him when he said he loves me.
This anger has taken over, poisoning every positive thought I have of him, of us. No one can understand the outrage I feel right now. How much I hate him for making me love him again. That’s the thing that hurts the most. It isn’t about loving him again, it’s more about awakening the love which never disappeared. Fate has now reared its fucking ugly head and screwed all this shit up. This sick, cruel, twisted game forced upon me and drained me of all my beliefs, all my hopes, telling me that maybe he’s my soulmate, and we are meant to live happily ever after.
By the time I reach my building, my phone has twenty-five missed calls and a dozen text messages. I can’t bring myself to read the texts.
Throwing the phone against the wall, I watch the screen crack as I scream in the basement, letting out my frustration. Leaning against the wall, I slide down, falling to the hard, concrete floor.
My tears are spilling out, the sobs leaving my chest gut-wrenching, and the pain spreads all over my body. My throat is dry, I am unable to form any words. I have to hide, run away from all this madness. I crawl over to where my phone lays broken on the ground. I can barely make out the numbers as my vision is clouded and the screen has a big crack, but I text his number and wait patiently for him to arrive.
Time is lost, my surroundings unfamiliar, but the voice, the words echo.
I can’t understand what’s going on.
The faint sight in front of me. What’s happening?
The warm arms I feel around me. This is safe, I have nothing to fear.
“Charlie… Charlie… Charlie, please look at me!” The voice is panicked.
I smile as I see his face, now able to focus.
“You came,” I mutter, my voice croaking.
“Of course, I did. Please look at me. What happened?”
The pain swells in my chest, the momentary realization knocking me cold.
“What date is it today?” I cry.
“Charlie, it’s September twenty-first.”
“I need… to… get… out… of… here,” I sob.
Placing his arms beneath me, he carries me toward the elevator as I rest my head in his chest.
“Take me somewhere, anywhere but here, anywhere but home. Take away this pain, please? Make it go away. Please? I don’t want to go back there. I can’t go back to that awful place,” I scream.
“Shh. I’ll take you away from here. It’s okay. It will be okay, Charlie, I promise.”
The numbing starts, and I know the protocol. This is the second step of the coping mechanism. The third will be ignorance, and fourth will be the bitterness shown in the light of day. The sweet revenge accompanied by hurtful words that one day will be said, followed by regret.
Her words from long ago keep replaying like a broken record, and somehow, I have to let history repeat itself. I let the big bad wolf—or as my mother referred to them as Dark Angels—strip me bare of everything I have fought so hard to rebuild.
My heart is absolutely broken beyond repair.
He’s the most beautiful man you’ll ever see. His soul will capture you but don’t be fooled, Mi Corazon. He’ll use all his powers to draw you in when there’s nothing left to do but take the one thing you’ve been holding on to.
When I was eighteen, I wasn’t wise or mature enough to know love is the most powerful thing in the universe, and so I allowed myself to accept it in all its glory. I learned the hard way, it also leads the path to the darkest place that exists.
Now, I believe I have it all figured out. Yes, love is the most powerful thing, I accept that, but this time I’m armed and convinced that I know which path is the road to happiness, my happily ever after.
This is no longer the fairy tale my momma read to me. This is the sequel. The story of the Dark Angel, who rode back into my sunset disguised as Prince Charming, only this time my armor is shattered, my will to fight obliterated.
The phoenix bird brought back my stolen soul and it lays helpless before me, clipped of its wings, unable to soar, trapped in a cage of my mistakes. The mistake of letting myself love him again, love the man who broke my heart. Twice.
Being laid on a warm bed is the last I remember about this day eight years ago almost six months since the day I last saw him. The day when the darkness fell upon me and without any light, I was unable to see, my mind demented by the shadows that lurked.
Like a frightened little girl, I prayed that someone would find me, hold my hand, pull me out of this dark abyss and lead me back into the light.
Alexander Edwards broke me in ways I never imagined possible.
But in the end, it was me who destroyed it all.
I gave up on us.
And regret is something I’ll have to live with… forever.
in
Chasing Us
A Second Chance Love Triangle
The Dark Love Series Book 2
Click here to purcha
se
BLURB
I was never supposed to fall in love with a married man.
My best friend’s brother.
I’d made too many mistakes in my past.
Like last night—when I married Lex Edwards impulsively.
In a bid to finally find their happily ever after, Lex and Charlie find themselves on a journey of learning how to love again. They began a new future to move forward from a broken past, finally together at last.
They vowed nothing would tear them apart… again.
But life’s cruel fate destroys their lives, and in desperate times they tear their love apart grieving over a lost loved one.
Lex and Charlie find themselves on the verge of finally saying goodbye to each other, until the return of a scorned ex-fiancé who’s desperate to claim back what was his.
ALSO IN THE SERIES:
Chasing Her
A Stalker Romance
The Dark Love Series Book 3
Click here to purchase
Chasing Him
A Forbidden Second Chance Romance
The Dark Love Series Book 4
Click here to purchase
#JERK
#B!TCH
Bad Boy Player
Bad Boy Rich
Mister Rebound
Arrogant Aussie: A Hero Club Novel
Roomie Wars
Wedding Wars
Baby Wars
Roomie Wars Box Set (Books 1 to 3)
The Dark Love Series
Click here
Chasing Love: A Billionaire Love Triangle
Chasing Us: A Second Chance Love Triangle
Chasing Her: A Stalker Romance
Chasing Him: A Forbidden Second Chance Romance
Check these links for more books from Author Kat T. Masen.